Burying in the Sand
by LivesUnderTheSea
Summary: The UCOS team are back, looking at a case of a strangled Ealing vet but something just a disturbing is on Sandra's mind. Why does she keep seeing the same familiar figure? And why has Gerry found her mobile number in the toilets?
1. Chapter 1

_Another week, here we go._ Not that Sandra didn't like her job- Christ, those dinosaurs could be irritating and disobeying a lot of the time- but she loved it. She loved how close the unit was; it felt like a family she'd never had. Well, how could she have, with a dad who topped himself when she was 14 and a mother who had lied ever since? She trusted her boys with almost anything, which is saying a lot coming from a certain superintendent. Not that she'd ever say as much- they'd think she was going soft and the next minute she'd have Gerry trying to get away with murder and Brian handing out all sorts of self-help guides and pregnancy tests. It was just the Monday mornings. Cliché, she knew, but her regular morning commute always seemed a more stressful at the beginning of a new week. Firstly, there was the HUGE regret of a) finally going to sleep in the early morning hours after just-one-more glass of wine and b) not having a shower the night before. The traffic seemed to double in number and half in speed on her journey into UCOS, the busy London roads streaming with dozy drivers, wishing they too had taken up public transport.

After aggressively explaining- in a one word and two fingered salute- to the driver in front of her about the ways of the road and how it had actually been her turn to move into the narrowing line of traffic, Sandra sighed and pushed her sunglasses up onto her head, anchoring her blonde locks out of her face. That was another thing about early mornings, especially in the nearing winter- the blinding sunlight of the late rising sun that catches her eyes just below the sunshield. She looked around on the quiet street, and quickly glanced back to the hedges she'd just skimmed past. _Odd._ She thought, almost sure she'd just seen a figure there. But hey, the flood of vehicles was eventually moving so she pressed on.

It wasn't until she was indicating to turn into the New Scotland Yard car park that she noticed the same kind of vision again. She recognised more this time, and saw enough to register a dark blur fold around the corner into a muddle of foreign students, and then disappear into thin air.

 _Nah,_ she thought, not believing for a minute that that was the same person she'd seen about 15 minutes ago. And anyway, who's to say the first sighting was a person? God knows that sun is blinding and realised, as she blinked again into the sky, that after looking at something so bright, dark figures were often replicated, as she now saw one dance across a cloud overhead. She chuckled to herself, reminded of the population of Britain's capital, and walked into the UCOS office with a smile on her face.

"Morning!" She gleamed, surprised to be the last one in the team to arrive, and yet she was still 10 minutes early.

"Morning," Gerry replied with a mixed smile of being glad to see her, but still a little under-the-weather of the Monday's madness.

"Tea?" Jack offered and Sandra nodded gratefully.

"Brian?" She queried over to the puzzled face, hunched over a keyboard.

"Ah, morning Sandra." He briefly looked up and then returned to the illuminated screen in front of him.

Once the beverages and dwindling slection of biscuits were set out, everyone gathered to the sofa at the front as Sandra stuck photos onto the board and printed names to various faces in black ink.

"Jane Knight" Sandra began, as usual, starting with the main reason they were all there and the main reason for uncovering the truth- the victim. "25 years old, found strangled in her flat in South Ealing." She continued, as her team looked through the case files they'd each been handed. "There was no DNA found at the flat, apart from her close family members, who had all obviously been in and around the flat so no new leads there." Sandra knew the possibility of Jane's killer being a close relative but the findings gave no new bearing to the case.

"She worked as a vet?" Jack asked, looking over the notes. "She wasn't that old."

Sandra nodded, with a grim face, "Yeah, newly qualified." Sandra thought of all the work and effort that Jane would have done with the intention of helping others for the rest of her career, only to be killed before she got the chance. "At the time, friends said she was a bit of a workaholic and didn't have much of a social life."

"That's what they think," Gerry pointed out. He was right- it was only one perspective on the girl.

"The case didn't get very far at the time and spoke only to the boyfriend, a Jason Small" Sandra wrote on the board as she explained. "We'll need to speak to the parents, obviously and try and track down any old friends."

"And colleagues." Brian chirped in, thinking about Jane's promising career.

Sandra nodded. "There wasn't much found out about her at the time. No suspects in the way of friends but now there's this-" Sandra began as she put up a photo.

"Jane's mother, Beth Cann, was clearing out some old furniture and found this taped to the bottom underside of a drawer." As she tapped the photo of a note with a number on it.

"Dan 07293781219" Jack read and took note of the hearts at the bottom.

"Her mother is sure this must have something to with it." Sandra explained.

"Why?" Gerry was quick to ask and Sandra volleyed an answer back.

"Because she recognised the paper from a notebook Jane used in the surgery, tha was bought for her less than a month before she died. And she'd never head of this Dan."

The room fell silent for a moment before Sandra picked the team back up.

"So, Jack and Brian, go to the vets and ask about Jane. Gerry you're with me." She flashed a smile and walked over to place her cup down.

"Okay, Guv'. I'm going to the loo first though." And he walked off towards the mens'.

Washing his hands, Gerry looked up to the mirror whistling contently, seeing as there was nobody else around. He reached for his pocket, realising he'd left his phone on the top of the windowsill, as to not lose it completely down the urinal. Spinning around to grab it, he noticed a piece of paper on the tiles, a series of numbers scribbled in a wobble on the scrap. It wasn't until he'd straightened up that he understood it as a mobile number. But not just anyone's. Sandra's.


	2. Chapter 2

_Me again! Hopefully going to get as many chapters up as frequently as possible,although this is quite a short one, so glad to see people are reading! As always, hope this is still in character, I've tried to! Again, reviews are always welcome and appreciated more than you know. Thank you!_

"Er, Gov?" Gerry was apprehensive to tell Sandra of the discovery he'd made in the loos but, after the amount of cases he'd worked on, he knew the consequences of holding back the minutest detail from Sandra. And this was different. He'd never forgive himself if something happened to Sandra, his Sandra and there was no logical explanation as to why her number would have been there.

"Christ, come on Gerry. You took long enough! What do you think-" She teased, but stopped mid sentence- and mid stride- as she noticed the sincere look of worry on his face.

"What is it?" She flatly asked, well, more demanded, but that wasn't important right now.

"I found this in the toilets. I don't know why it would be there, how it got there or who-"

"I was being followed this morning" Sandra blurted, before she could realise what she was saying. She was never one to exaggerate, especially to announce her vulnerability but she was sure it was the same man this morning. And Sandra Pullman didn't believe in coincidences.

Gerry's face turned a yellowish colour, to mirror his guv'nor's, now pale and washed of colour.

"What?!" He looked her in the eyes, and saw the icy blue beauty of them glaze with a fresh puddle of tears. He'd only ever seen her like this one other time- when the truth came out about her Father.

By this time, Jack and Brian had also drawn closer, both concerned for Sandra.

"When was this?" Brian asked, as methodical as ever.

Sandra viciously wiped a tear from under her eye before it had time to drop onto her cheek and turned to answer him.

"Um, this morning, on the way to work." Sandra answered, preoccupied by Gerry's reaction- why did he care so much? She was just her Guv...

Jack turned to Brian and Gerry.

"Look, take the rest of the day off Sandra. Christ knows we all need it and you need time to get things together before you report it." Jack didn't even need to question that she would. He knew she'd have to because of her eagerness for other vulnerable women to report anything they found uncomfortable. They'd all been on enough cases involving a victim of whom it was too late to just report it.

She nodded, silent and went to grab her coat. Gerry cleared up too. He knew she wouldn't like it, but there was no way she'd be left on her own for now.

"I'm coming with you," Gerry shouted from his desk as he logged off- it was the safest way when dealing with such a stubbornly independent woman.

Sandra strode out of the office and just smiled at him, a small smile of gratitude and equally, of fatigue.

"It'll be okay, you know." Gerry rubbed her upper arm, as they walked out to the cars, and for once, she didn't flinch away. That's how Gerry knew something was definitely wrong.

Gerry followed her back to the house and stopped outside, waiting for her to get out of the car. They made their way up to the house, but Gerry's sympathetic smile to Sandra dropped suddenly as soon as they were close enough to the door to realise. Sandra was too busy sifting through her oversized bag for the keys, but Gerry took a step forward and pushed the door gently open from how it was left, ajar. At the sound, Sandra looked up, her face plastered with an expression of horror and terror. But before Gerry could tell her to wait, she stormed past into the hallway.

"Look, Sandra. We need to call the police." Gerry tried to apporach the obvious solution with ease, as not to upset the apple cart. He knew she was volatile in such a vulnerable state and he didn't want to make matters worse.

"No,"She snapped back and, knowing what was good for him, Gerry shut up... for now.

He followed Sandra helplessly as her heels clicked into the kitchen, where nothing was disturbed, and muffled into a small thump as she hit the stairs. The echo of them returned as she checked the bathroom- still nothing- and muted in her bedroom. Gerry didn't even contemplate going in after her, despite not ever being up their before.

The room was mainly cream, which made it bright, and a deep and calming teal, which surprised Gerry. Judging by her care and attention in her fridge, he was half expecting it to still be plasterboard. He looked down at the bed, Sandra's eyes were transfixed on and understood why. At the end of the bed, on the matching teal throw, lay a note 'LIKE FATHER LIKE DAUGHTER' and a bunch of red tulips, which he knew were plaed at her father's grave at his death anniversary each year.

"Shit," She whispered and Gerry saw the tears fall from her eyes at the fastest rate he'd ever seen. He put his hand around her back and held her, pulling her tightly into him. She needed to know he was there, Gerry thought. And he would be. She leant into him, still more tears falling.

"Shit, Gerry" she mumbled again. He'd never seen her this scared before, and it scared him too.


	3. Chapter 3

_I'm back! Sorry about the short chapeters but figured more frequent and shorted chapters is better than one huge chapter every 6 weeks or so! Anyway, I started my A levels officially this week so things may go a bit wobbly from here but I will try! Would be great to know if there are any readers still around and reviews are appreciated more than you will ever know! Thanks! And enjoy!`_

"Look, stay at mine tonight." Gerry offered, in a more 'You need to' rather than 'You can do' voice. He couldn't leave Sandra alone tonight and there was no way on Earth he was leaving her here alone. After a slight hesitation, Sandra nodded gratefully, wiping her eyes again and thanked him. At this point she would have usually made a joke about his notorious love life, but she was exhausted, she couldn't even muster the energy to comment. Within minutes, she was ready to go. She had finally agreed to report what had happened but knew from her own experiences of dealing with these kind of issues, that it took a few days to get everything going.

They'd got back and she jumped up to sit on the counter, legs swinging underneath, in his beloved kitchen.

"Food?" He asked, rubbing his hands and glancing at the time. 17:20. Really? It had gone that quickly?! It had felt 5 minutes since he had found the note and the day had been going so well before then. Sandra was in her teasing mood, which he adored, and she was about to head out with him on an hour's drive. That was probably his favourite part of the day, talking to her on whatever subject they fancied for however long it took, especially when she was in that humorous mood. Even after three marriages, he felt more at home talking to Sandra than he ever had with any of his exes.

"Depends what ya got?" She smirked, obviously brightened by the prospect of cuisine. Rule one: Gerry thought Food is always the answer. He smiled back, content with the improvements in her mood, albeit not a brilliant improvement. But then what did he expect for someone who'd just been followed, stalked out and broken in to? And this wasn't just anyone. This was Sandra.

"Okay," He tailed off, opening the fridge and scanning the contents to figure out what to whip up. "Chicken..." His eyes climbed up the shelves in the fridge. "With broccoli, beansprouts, mushrooms..."His voice faded into a whisper as he spun around and leapt over to the cupboard to dig out the dried noodles." Not perfect, but it'd do. He turned to grin at Sandra, and saw her mirroring the expression before he'd even so much as smirked. He loved that smile- not the one she used at the casual joke, or even the one she had for about a week after Strickland walked into that door. No, this was more devious, but so radiant and perfect. He didn't see it all the often, and less so when they were around other people- even if they were Jack and Brian.

"What?" He chuckled, holding the noodles up in one hand, and the chicken in another, as she gazed over to him from the chair, still grinning herself.

"Nothing," But she maintained the smile. "So, what's for tea?" She questioned, only as enthusiastically as Sandra did when it involved something edible, as she jumped down from the side.

"Hoisin chicken stir fry!" Gerry announced, rather more triumphantly than he intended, but Sandra smiled back again.

"Okay! What should I do?" She asked, rubbing her hands and stepping forward to him so they were a lot closer than normal, if they weren't squashed up in Gerry's stag, off to question somebody or other.

"Buggered if I'm letting you cook!" Gerry laughed "And don't think that's because I'm being a gentleman. It's because I actually want a kitchen still standing at the end of it!"

Sandra crossed her arms, taking stance, tongue in cheek thinking of some smart remark to counter his teasing, but couldn't. Instead, she jumped forward and snatched the noodles from him.

"What _would_ I do without you, Gerald?" She fluttered her eyelashes, opening them to a blue blue sparkle that had marveled Gerry ever since they met. "However," She began, jerking the noodles away when Gerry attempted to grab them back. "Contrary to popular belief, I can boil bloody noodles." And she strutted off to the kettle.

They continued in a comfortable silence for the next few minutes, as the kettle boiled and Gerry browned off the garlic and chicken together in the pan.

"Gerry?" Sandra softly started, as she turned from what she was doing to face him, at the other side of the kitchen.

"Hm?" He answered casually, stirring the chicken, but stopped when his eyes met hers and he knew whatever was coming was a big deal for Sandra to say, due to the seriousness on her face. That meant it probably involved emotions.

"I don't know what I would do without you, you know. Well, all of you. But you..." She tailed off, as he took steps closer to her.

He rubbed her shoulder, trying not to grin like the cheshire bloody cat. _She's saying this because she's vulnerable Gerry. And you're just there._

"Me too." He said, rubbing the top of her arm, as she relaxed and leant back against the counter.

He looked her in the eyes, and mistakenly thought her eyes were just extra sparkly. Quite the opposite, and quite a rarity for the Detective Superintendent. Gerry tried not draw a quick breath as a tear fell from both eyes, simultaneously.

"I'm scared Gerry." She mumbled, and went to wiped the tear quickly, but Gerry caught he hand, and held it tightly, pulling her closer, wrapping her into a hug for the second time in a day. Things must be bad if she hasn't smacked me already. Gerry's inner voice recalled, which was true but he was just grateful he was there when she needed him most.


	4. Chapter 4

_Hi! Thank you so much for the responses and it is great to see people actually eager to read my work- it means so much! I've been really busy getting into A-levels and managing time... but enough about that! These chapters are short, mainly because of the time I have to write at a time and I don't want to keep you waiting! If I saved it all for a decent length chapter, you'd never see it! But also, it buys me a bit of extra time to actually decide how this is going. I did plan- honest. But this plan has not just altered, but doesn't really look like the same story anymore! Oh well! Enjoy and as always, reviews mean more than you know! Thank you._

After dinner, Gerry had insisted on clearing up whilst a worn-out Guv'nor had a bath- the only kind of relaxation Gerry could muster from his previous experiences of women. But this wasn't any woman...this was Sandra Pullman. He was deep in thought, most of which anxiety on Sandra's behalf, when he was snapped back to reality as the detective superintendent padded down into the kitchen, armed folded, snug in Gerry dressing gown.

"Couldn't bear to be without me?" He teased, desperate to maintain the lighter mood they'd shared over the stir fry, flashing a grin.

"Oh, exactly that. The first excuse I had to stay over and I jumped at it." She sarcastically volleyed back, grinning with as much enthusiasm as she could, before yawning.

"Look, you stick the telly on and relax down here, I'm gonna run up for a shower." He stepped past her, rubbing her shoulder. "There's a blanket in the footstool." He shouted down as he raced up the stairs, two at a time.

Sandra walked into the living room, surveying the familiar room for the footstool, and retrieved the fluffy, deep red blanket not from where Gerry had said, but from down the side of the sofa. Normally she would have taken great pleasure in pointing this out to him, but just couldn't be bothered tonight. Flicking through a couple of channels, she settled on some reality crap, midway through, but just needed some background noise to cut through the silence that, at the moment, made her nervous, even in the safest of place.

"Sorry, I must have dozed off," She mumbled, the next minute, finding Gerry bringing in two mugs of steaming tea. How long had he been out of the shower? The reality crap had now been and gone, replaced with a police drama. Great.

"No worries, I guessed as much when you didn't reply. I thought you would have had some response to my remarks..." He joked, chuckling as he handed Sandra a mug.

"Do I want to know?" She asked in true 'Guv'nor' style. Nothing surprised her now.

"Nah," He shook his head. "I'd probably regret it. I was safe in the shower, but in this proximity, I'm not so sure!"

Sandra laughed, for the first time in ages, it felt, as she sat up and curled into the corner. Gerry sat next to her.

"You okay?" He breached the subject softly. Although he wanted to keep the lighthearted atmosphere, Gerry needed to be sure his Guv' was okay.

"Mm-hm," She nodded, gulping her tea. "It'll be sorted. I've got my head around it now." She paused, looking down to the carpet. "But until then,"

"Of course you can." Gerry interrupted, knowing Sandra asking for help from anyone-even Gerry, especially Gerry- was difficult enough for her.

She smiled gratefully at him, not sure how to develop the conversation.

"What is this crap?" Gerry asked, indicating to the hostage situation shown on the TV. "I knew you were a workaholic but christ Sandra, looking into hostage training for those action-packed cases at UCOS?" He smiled at her and she laughed back.

"May I remind you, Gerald, that it's usually you pensioners that get us into those kind of messes anyway!" She returned and Gerry chuckled, pulling the blanket over him too.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a moment as Sandra finished her tea and Gerry could see her eyes getting heavier.

"Do you want to head to bed?" He asked, gently as she leant back against the pillows.

"Is that how you try to pull all the women, Gerry? No wonder we haven't heard about anyone new if that's your approach." She turned to grin at him.

"Well, no but if you're offering..." He winked. "And anyway, it'd have to be different with you. Because you're different. You're you." Gerry said, looking at Sandra and, finally when realising what he'd said, he looked away. He changed the subject, back to the original question. "If you're tired, we can go up."

"Nah, I'm okay. I'd rather stay up anyway. It'll just play on my mind else." She shifted to move closer to Gerry, spreading the blanket more evenly over both of them.

Gerry smiled to himself, so content with even just this evening. He was angry at the reasons behind it- he'd have whoever threatened Sandra, knock the living shit out of them. But he was over the moon that Sandra had looked to him for help. It made him feel so much more useful, especially to the woman he loved as much as he loved Sandra.

 _Back to Earth, Gerry_

After his careful contemplation of what was happening, why and how- along with a string of various possibilities, he was brought back to his senses by a pressure to his chest. Looking down, he noticed Sandra had fallen asleep onto him, arm wrapped around him, head gently pressed to his chest. He turned to watch her sleeping, only for a while. The soft rise and fall of her chest, the curling natural locks of her hair and pink lips. He'd never seen her so quiet in the entire time he had known the feisty female. God, he loved her.


	5. Chapter 5

**HI! I'm so sorry this hasn't been updated recently. I've been extremely busy trying to revise for assessments to keep on our A level courses... which is a little stressful to say the least! Anyway, I've finally had time to publish this but apologies for any mistakes. If I proof read everything, I'll become too critical and this will never get published! :D Enjoy, anyway. And thank you for reading! I love reading thr reviews and it really boosts my confidence in the story. I did have a plan but it's completely off the rails now, so anything could happen from now! Reviews greatly appreciated. Thank you so much! X**

The next morning, Gerry woke in the familiar setting as the last evening, figuring he'd fallen asleep there. But no Sandra. He looked around, noticing the blanket was still around him, but the pair of tea stained coasters on the table were missing the matching mugs. He got up, and wandered out to the kitchen, where the mugs sat on the draining board, soapy foam settled at the rims. How long had she been up?

"Sandra?" He called up the stairs, in a sort of usual way, like they'd lived together for years. But Gerry half expected there to be no reply, as if she'd buggered off to work alone.

"Yeah, hang on." The Guv called back, much to Gerry's relief. He was protective over her, like a brother, and had been for the past years they'd worked together. But loved her in a different sort of way.

A couple of minutes of dwindling around the kitchen, wiping sides and trying to make himself busy passed before Sandra came down the stairs, in an unfamiliar red top that Gerry had never seen, and black jeans.

"Odd socks." He pointed out, quite plainly, but with a smile.

"Who's got time to pair socks when there's criminals to catch?" She replied, before adding "And yeah, I'm fine thanks. How about you?" With a well-known hint of sarcasm.

"Yeah, I'm good." He flexed his arms out with a yawn and replied in the most chilled of fashions before changing approach completely, when he noticed Sandra sitting down on the bottom stairs to put on her boots.

"You do realise it's 8?" She queried, occupied by zipping up the first of the shoes, then looking up to him.

"Crap. Okay, give me 20 minutes." He jumped over her and ran up the stairs.

"Fifteen." She called back, standing to make coffee to go.

By the time they headed out of the door, and got into Sandra's car, it was half past.

"That was your fault, not waking me up early enough." Gerry argued, as he noticed her checking her watch and sighing.

"What would you do without me there, Gerald? An alarm clock maybe?" She sarcastically suggested, as they simultaneously did up their seatbelts.

"I would have been in my bed if you weren't there!" He joked. They sounded scarily too much like a married couple.

...

"Morning," Gerry gleefully announced, into the quiet office.

"What's up with you?" Brian cynically queried, picking up on the unusual animation to his voice.

"Nothing, just Sandra-" He stopped mid sentence, realising that half of the team didn't know about what had happened after work.

"Sandra what?" Jack picked up, standing from his desk.

"Sandra's house was broken into last night, and Sandra stayed at Gerry's." She spoke in third person, as if to be unattached from the incident, as she leant against the door frame to her office.

"Are you okay?" Jack instantly snapped in, concerned for the girl he had known from fourteen years old.

"Yeah, yeah. I was going to tell you later, but Gerry always has had a way with words." She gazed over to him and Gerry half expected a bird-in-charge glare, but was met with a soft smile.

"So, what are you going to do? Have you reported it?" The logical-as-ever Brian chirped in. "You can't not report it. Is this anything to do with the number, do you think?" He bombarded her with questions and Sandra held her hands up, the closest to a surrender she would ever get.

"Look, I've reported it and no, I don't know, Brian. I doubt they'd try it again because if I knew, they'd know about it." She gently laughed off before walking into her office rather abruptly.

Her boys exchanged a glance between them all, and Gerry stood to announce he was making tea, but presumed everyone would want one. Because If he consulted Brian and Jack, he would have to ask Sandra too, and he wasn't doing that yet.

Bracing himself for Sandra's wrath or another out-of-character smile, Gerry knocked quickly on the door twice, before pushing down the handle with his elbow, balancing the two mugs of milky tea in each hand. Sandra looked up from the paperwork she was shuffling about into separate piles.

"The vet surgery has moved on since Jane left. There was only one member of staff still around that remembered her and the rest have all changed surgeries, or left completely. This veterinary nurse was actually Jane's best friend. Chelsea Manford who had joined the surgery at around the same time. She told Jack and Brian that Jane was quite secretive but in the last few months of being around, she had become a bit more lively. She seemed happy for the majority, but in the last couple of weeks had become short-tempered and it seemed to be all or nothing. She either loved the world..."

"Or hated it." Sandra nodded, getting the idea. "Did she know anything about this Dan?"

"Not that she could remember. Jane was a very private person from the off but it never occurred to her that Jane was in a committed relationship because she seemed to live by her own agenda, going out at the slightest of notice. So if her closest friend didn't have any idea about Jason, she wouldn't have had a clue if Jane was seeing someone else on the side. And she knew little of any other friends." Gerry replied, sitting down opposite her. He wished he had the balls to talk to her properly. Not work related.

Sandra took the tea from Gerry gratefully, then stopped in her tracks and turned to him.

"When did they find all of this out?" She seemed confused, which took Gerry by surprise. Sandra was never confused about a case, especially this early on into the investigation.

"Yesterday Sandra." He explained slowly, careful not to offend the Guv. God knows she needed the most support she could get at this moment and he didn't want to be pushed to the back of the queue for making her feel patronised. Selfishly, he wanted to be the one to help her.

"Oh right," She sank back into the chair, running her hand through her hair. Gerry could see the tired streaks under her eyes, but she still looked beautiful.

"You okay?" Gerry edged the question carefully, worried about over stepping the mark so asked in the softest, most outwardly-genuine voice he could.

Sandra looked up to his eyes and smiled faintly, "Yeah, just knackered. And pissed off." He knew what she meant instantly. Nobody messed with Sandra and she hated the idea of putting herself, and Gerry at the moment, out because some idiot had decided it would be a good idea to harrass her.

A moment of comfortable silence fell between the pair, as they often did when discussing a case. Suddenly, Sandra span around and got up. She grabbed her coat and bag from the side, gliding passed and brushing Gerry. Gerry couldn't help remembering how warm she had been the night before, and briefly reflected on watching her, so strong still. How?

"Earth to Gerry?" Gerry snapped back to reality, seeing his Guv by the door, warm coat wrapped around her figure, flicking her hair out of the collar. "Let's go and see Beth Cann. It would've been done yesterday but..." And she trailed off. It was like digging up an embarassing moment from the past and feeling that burning sensation through your body. Only a lot worse because this was real and this wasn't just making a fool of herself- it was dangerous.

"I'll drive." Gerry announced, and Sandra chucked the keys over to him. She was still too tired to argue and was actually quite grateful for his offer. Not that she'd ever admit that otherwise they'd be riding around in the stag at 20 miles an hour on every inquiry.

"Just drive it with a bit more care, Gerry. I've seen how much you use your brakes!" She teased, smiling over to him before ducking down into the passenger seat.

"And your lead foot does the world of good for it" He volleyed back, grinning.

As Gerry slowed to a halt at a set of traffic lights, Sanra gazed out to a man sat by a window, sipping a coffee and read a paper. Looking closer, she noticed he wasn't actualy looking at the paper but ove the top of it. As her eyes followed his line of vision, she saw a brunette woman in tall black stilettos, circling a table and eventually settling, like a bird of prey figures out their best option for attack. He moved closer to the woman, and Sandra wondered how many other people are being watched- in danger or harmlessly- and how many knew about it. More so, how many times had she been watched?

And who by?

They set off again, Gerry humming tunelessly to some old song on radio 2 and tapping rhymically at the wheel.

"Do you feel safe, Sandra?" He asked, turning to her as they pulled up at Beth's address.

"What?" Sandra was taken back as he asked. She could physically feel bricks building up around herself- her defense mechanism hadn't failed her yet, but sometimes it was a curse. "Yeah Gerry, when have you not known me be? I've been through a lot worse shit in my lifetime, a lot fo which has been since UCOS. This isn't as big as you think." She yanked the door open and stepped out onto the pavement, waiting for him to hurry up. Bird in charge now, no time for emotions at the moment. She hadn't exactly pulled her weight yesterday, had she?

"Look, San-"

"Just leave it, Gerry." She strutted up to the door, Gerry left out in the dark and feeling pretty shit about doing so, if she was honest. What had he done to deserve that? She instantly felt guilty, but pushed the doorbell regardless. What happened next, she didn't expect herself. Taking chances professionally wasn't something Sandra Pullman did regularly, and she certainly didn't plan to spin on her heels, standing on the step above Gerry, and kiss him, on the doorstep of a victim's mother.

"Just shut up." She smiled, pulling away to face the door as she heard the key in the lock.

Bloody hell. What had happened there? Even aging as he was, Gerry was having considerably more difficulty processing the recent event, as he tuned out from Sandra's routine greeting to Beth on the doorstep. He stepped inside, still remaining mute, and followed his Guv through to the kitchen.

He felt like he'd been hit by lightning. And just like it, he doubted it'd happen again.

"So did Jane seem abnormal in the months leading up to her death?" Sandra asked, leaning against the counter.

"No, not overly. Well, to be honest, I'm no the best person to ask actually. We saw less and less of Jane as she became more engrossed in her work. She did seem happier though, whether that be the work or something else. Jason seemed to be a great support for her work and he'd always seem interested in her fulfilling whatever she wanted to achieve." Beth answered. "I don't know who this Dan is. I honestly haven't a clue. I've looked through our contacts and asked around on social media. I even tried one of those companies. But they just ripped us off." Beth looked down at the floor. "Jane's life was her work. She loved Jason, don't get me wrong, but she was so passionated about animals. I-" Beth stopped, putting the mug of tea she had wrapped around her hands down. "I suppose it could be someone from work."

"We've already enquired into colleagues." Gerry piped up for the first time since the embrace that shook his world.

"Ah, but what if it was a customer?" Sandra turned to Gerry. "Thank you very much for your time Mrs Cann. We are trying to do everything we can and will keep you updated on the progress."

They walked out and down the street to the car, Gerry trailing behind the Detective Superintendent.

"Sandra-" Gerry caught her hand, as they walked down to her car. And then stopped in the same tracks as she had. Staring at the same thing as she was. Sandra's hand grapsed Gerry's more tightly.

"SHIT." Sandra cursed, Gerry picking up easily on the wobbles in her voice. The terror.

She started to walk over to her car, and dragged Gerry too, remaining clutched to his hand. Her two front tyres had been slashed, not once, but two long streaks down the front, viciously ripping into the rubber excessively.

She looked over to the windscreen, finding a photo placed under the wiper that made her stomach somersault quite dramatically. An unfamiliar photo of her father. With another woman.

Most people would have been expected to express some kind of upset at a similiar incident, but Sandra was just filled with anger, that quickly subsided into fear. Who had been following them? Were they watched now? Feeling a whirl of dizziness, she grabbed onto Gerry's coat and fell into him for support, trying not to keel over and smack onto the concrete, as appealing as forgetting this sounded at the moment.

"It's okay." Gerry firmly replied, knowing Sandra need reassurance a lot more than she would ever need sympathy, and wrapped him arms around her to keep her upright. That, and he wanted her to be comforted, knowing she'd never have it if she wasn't spinning inside.


	6. Chapter 6

**It's been a while! Sorry for the delay, been so busy so just expect this kind of length of updating time! :D I also lost my notebook so wasn't quite sure where to go with it, procrastinated and it made an appearance again! Back on track! Enjoy and reviews are all very appreciated! Thanks!**

Driving back to UCOS, after the three hours waiting for a recovery vehicle to lug the car and both a furious Sandra, and knackered, seriously concerned, Gerry to a garage, there was little in the way of conversation, unless you counted the cursing and muttering of a furiously volatile Sandra, and the small gestures of Gerry as he tried to diffuse her rising temper, or the comfort he was trying to express. Neither worked, by the way.  
"The bastards," She would loudly whisper, as she rested her head in her hand, her elbow leant against the window.  
"What the bloody hell is this about?" She'd ask the rhetorical question before looking at Gerry, sighing, and remaining silent for a few minutes. Then repeat the process with another insult, or threat. This is why is surprised Gerry when he didn't hear so much of a whimper from the passenger seat for a good five minutes. He looked over as Sandra for the thousandth time in the space since the silence began, and found she was still staring out of the window, her face concealed,or so she thought. He knew his Gov too well, but as they pulled up to the traffic lights, he concentrated on the vague reflection in the window- God, he needed to clean them- and couldn't mistake the glisten he saw fall down her cheek. Yeah, Sandra would never intend to show that kind of vulnerability, even to him. The anger was subsiding now, and the worry was bubbling through.  
"Sandra," Gerry started, as she whipped around quickly, almost too alert.  
"It's fine, Gerry. I just want to know who the hell is doing this, and make it the last time they bloody well do."  
As they pulled up in the space they had left from that morning, Gerry turned off the ignition and moved in the seat to face Sandra, as she unplugged her seatbelt. Now was not the time to ask about what had happened on the doorstep at Beth's, but that didn't mean he wouldn't ever ask. Maybe over the phone, that would be safer...  
"Look, I don't feel comfortable with you staying alone tonight." Gerry asserted a confident voice, hoping it would encourage his Guv just to give in. Ha.  
"No, I'm fine Gerry. Honestly. I don't need protecting. They're cowards because they haven't actually done anything harmful, really. Slashed tyres-" She retaliated, but Sandra knew deep down it wouldn't take much at this moment for her to burst into tears, let alone accept help from the man she trusted most.  
"Yeah, breaking into your home...going through your things... Nothing really, innit?" Gerry sarcastically volleyed back, smiling.  
"Well, yeah..." Sandra looked down from his gaze to the radio.  
"Look, just stay at mine." Gerry was so certain in his voice, he was sure Sandra wouldn't argue, but got out of the car before she could argue. "We'll invite Brian and Jack around for dinner?" He suggested and Sandra was grateful for how he was trying to make it normal for her, despite the upheaval in emotion at the moment.  
Bottom-line, Sandra Pullman was far too tired and far too defenseless at the moment to argue. Underneath that, she really didn't want to be alone at the moment, especially now she had the idea that someone was following her too. She didn't want to be alone and really, although she'd much rather not admit it, she wanted to be with Gerry. At least he'd managed to make her smile when she'd felt like shit. Her memories flashed back to the kiss, on the doorstep earlier that day. What was she thinking? When was it ever like Sandra Pullman to actually admit her feelings to herself, let alone make anybody else aware of them... even if that was Gerry bloody Standing.

"Are you going to tell the others about this?" Gerry asked, gently as they made their way to the office.

Sandra took a deep sigh, "Gonna have to, aren't I?" As she felt for Gerry's hand and squeezed it. Like she'd said, Sandra Pullman was too tired to give a crap at the moment.

"Sandra," Gerry stopped before the doors into the familiar office they had inhabited together for years now. She knew what was coming.

"I kissed you because I meant it. I'm sorry for dragging you into all of this and I'm just thankful I have you. Brian? Yeah, and Jack's been great too but, I don't know... You just seem to have a better way of dealing with this kinda shit. You know what to do to make even ME feel better!" Sandra laughed off as if to soften the seriousness of her little speech.

Gerry smiled, and kissed her on the cheek, before opening the door and holding it open for his Guv.

"Right, Beth Cann has no idea who this Dan could be. She said that Jane was a workaholic." Sandra announced, as they walked in.

"We know the type..." Jack commented with a smile.

"I'm ignoring that." Sandra shot back, and continued "She suggested looking into work again. But said Jane was more about her work than her love life," She stopped again.

She could hear Gerry softly chuckle behind, but didn't rise to glancing back.

"Are you um-" Gerry mumbled.

"Yes, thank you Gerry." Sandra emphasised. " As Gerry is so eager to announce, my tyres were slashed earlier, which is why we are back so late. Nothing to worry about, because I'm staying at Gerry's tonight. So who wants to come over for dinner? Gerry's cooking," Sandra leaned against the wall, breathless because she was so keen just to get in out of the way. She had to laugh at Brain's expression though- priceless.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked, in his usual concerned tone. Sandra nodded and swallowed, "Yeah, yeah. Just knackered."

"Do you reckon it's the same people as before?" Brian queried, as ever.

Sandra sighed, suddenly very restless with all of the questions.

"I don't know, Brian. But can we all go now?"

Brian and Jack pulled their coats on and made their way up to Gerry and Sandra, and they walked out together.

"What're you cooking up then, Ramsay?" Jack teased.

"Oh, I don't know... Guv?" Gerry consulted the woman walking next to him, in the same stride, and she shot him a bright smile, something he'd always loved about his Guv.

"Pasta night." Sandra grinned, and subtly reached for Gerry's hand.


End file.
